Image Credits:-
Many thanks to Esther Chilton for supplying author and book cover shots. Other images were created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos or images supplied by Esther. AI images avoided. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick.
It is with great pleasure I welcome fellow Swanwicker, Esther Chilton, back to Chandler’s Ford Today to talk about her second book for children, Myths and Magic. This is part of her Saffy’s Secret Quest series. As well as writing for children, Esther also writes flash fiction and short stories, is a tutor for The Writers’ Bureau and tutors at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick.
Writing for children comes with its own challenges. You need to know your market well (true for all fiction and non-fiction) but here you need to be precise about the age range of the children you’re writing for as the needs of young readers change. A teenager is unlikely to want to read a picture book. Those into picture books will not be able to “get” Young Adult fiction.
Myths and Magic is a follow up to The Secret Dragon. Esther’s social media, author bio, and buy links follow the interview.
Blurb for Myths and Magic
Saffy has solved the first clue in her quest to save the magical world of Mandoreum from danger. Now it’s time to find the second.
She isn’t alone. Her new friend, Lily, a dragon from Mandoreum, wants to help. Together they take a trip and uncover special stories and unexpected surprises.
But Saffy soon learns that first appearances are not always what they seem. And plotting in the background is a witch who will do everything she can to stop them…
And now over to Esther for question time. Welcome back to Chandler’s Ford Today, Esther.
1. Congratulations on the publication of Myths and Magic, Esther. In our previous interview, you said you were writing a series of six children’s books (Saffy’s Secret Quest), The Secret Dragon being the first and Myths and Magic its follow-up. How did you find writing the second book? Second books can be notoriously difficult to do even in a series. Equally, have you already planned out all six books and it is now a question of writing them up? What planning do you like to do? I like to give myself manoeuvre room so don’t plan out everything.
I’m very much a planner so I’ve planned out all six books in detail. I like to know where I’m going, but having said that, I do allow myself to go off track. Sometimes an idea pops into my head as I’m writing the book. Or it might come when I’m doing something mundane like washing up. I think characters have a voice of their own and sometimes insist you take them in a different direction.
But, because I have a plan, I can come back to it when I need to. I think I’m the type of writer who needs to be anchored to a plan, otherwise I would could easily go down a path and tangle myself up in knots!
2. What launch events are you holding for Myths and Magic? Do you prefer in person or online launches? I love both. Both have their advantages. Why do you think these events are so special for authors because they’re not just about the sales, important as they are?
I’m not having an official launch this time round, but I’ve got lots of mini-launches at various events. It’s something different but exciting. These events are so important for writers as it gives them the opportunity to interact with their readers, which really is wonderful.
3. How difficult or otherwise is it to get developing a character arc for Saffy for the book she is currently appearing in without inadvertently giving away too much for the next book? Do you have a timeline for the other books in the series?
The series is set over the school summer holidays so it’s a fairly short timeline. With books for such a young age group, you can’t take the character on a massive personal journey as you don’t have enough words in which to do that.
But I wanted Saffy to change gradually over the course of the series, learning more about herself and others, as well as understanding more about the world and what’s important. As there are six clues to find, I’m able to focus on one clue per book. This means it hasn’t been as difficult to not give away what’s coming as it might be for another series.
4. What made you realise Saffy was a special enough character to have her own series and will she grow in age as the books progress? Some characters stay roughly the same age for a series. I don’t recall The Famous Five aging much over Enid Blyton’s books. What are the advantages and disadvantages to aging a character or keeping them at the same age?
I began writing the series when my daughter was a similar age to Saffy (about eight) and I could just picture this little girl finding a magical world that’s in danger and wanting to help it. I started to think about clues and how these would need to be solved over a time period. As that time period is so short, Saffy stays the same age.
The characters didn’t seem to age in the books I was reading so I think I subconsciously went with that. I think the advantage of keeping her the same age is that I was able to really get to know her; if she had aged too much, then I would have needed a steeper character arc. I was also aware of staying within the age group. It’s usual to have a character who’s slightly older than the target readership but not too much older.
5. Marketing a series is an interesting phenomenon in that you obviously want to market the current book while not forgetting to promote the previous ones. How do you get the balance right? Is there a “right balance” to “get” or is it a question of giving each book in a series its proper time in the spotlight? How do you gauge what that proper time is?
Marketing isn’t easy at the best of times, but it’s difficult to target this age group. It’s been a case of trial and error. I’ve subsequently found my market is grandparents! They’re the ones who buy the books for their grandchildren.
That’s worked very well, especially in the case of running a blog as many of the bloggers I interact with are grandparents. At the moment I’m focusing on the second book in the lead-up to the launch, but I will also bring in the first book. I’m planning on doing some special deals in terms of selling them as a package as well.
6. I often read my flash pieces out loud to hear how they sound. Do you do this with your children’s work? I like this technique because I can hear if my text sounds natural. I should imagine this is even more important to get right for younger readers. How many edits, including “sound edits”, did you have to do on Myths and Magic? What is your approach to editing? I see it as a separate creative task.
I completely agree, Allison. I always read my work aloud. It helps you to see if you’ve got the language, fluency and dialogue right. It also helps to highlight any mistakes. Myths and Magic went through a number of edits.
I wasn’t happy with the first draft, but first drafts are never right. But with each edit, the book, the characters and the scene all began to come to life. The book went through some rigorous editing in the first few drafts and then it was a case of little nuances here and there to get it right. It’s quite satisfying. But you also have to learn when to let it go, otherwise you could make tweaks to it endlessly!
7. What fantasy books/fairytales influenced your own love of the genre and Myths and Magic in particular? Are there any myths you would like to write up for children at a later date?
I loved being taken to magical worlds when I was young. A particular favourite was Narnia, created by C.S. Lewis. He had such a talent for whisking you away to a whole new world, one of mystery and magic. I’ve even read the series again as an adult and loved it. There are so many fairytales and fables out there. I always have ideas going round my head but as I have four more books in the Saffy series, I’m focusing on those for now.
8. Esther, given we’re both flash fiction writers and are used to the discipline of writing to specific word counts, did you find that helpful for writing your children’s books? The word count isn’t limited in quite the same way but books for this age range are expected to be at a certain length. Or was this a separate challenge to what you usually do for your flash work?
I think over the years as a writer, I’ve got used to writing economically. I had a stint as a copywriter so every word had to count more than ever. It was a great discipline to learn and that helped me with my flash fiction and I’ve also been able to take this into other areas of writing, including the Saffy series.
9. Saffy’s Secret Quest is aimed at the 5-7 years old market. Is that a natural market for you to write to? Can you imagine writing for older children at some point, including YA?
At the moment, this feels like the right age group for me to write for. I go into a primary school and help children in this age group with their reading so I’ve got to know the things they like doing, sibling and parental relationships, their language, etc, so I’m comfortable with it. I would like to write for older children in the future as you can create more of a story world and go into greater depth in terms of the character arcs.
10. Last but not least, do share any other writing news, including Swanwick 2026.
I’m looking forward to attending Swanwick once again this year. I’m teaching a course there called Rediscover Your Love of Writing for those who have had a break from writing and are struggling to get back into it. Life sometimes gets in the way so the course aim is to help them find the path back to it.
I’m going to be very busy in August as not only is it Swanwick Writing Summer School but I’m taking over The Writers Bureau distance learning college at the beginning of the month. That will be a fresh challenge for me and keep me on my toes!
Allison: Good luck with The Writers’ Bureau, Esther.
Conclusion
Writing has its own challenges, writing for children even more so, but it is vital. The majority of people who read for pleasure as adults started that habit when they were children. I’m just one, Esther is another. What does please me about the children’s market these days is there is more choice across all age ranges. There is a book out there to suit most children. That hasn’t always been the case (as I can recall from my childhood).
Entertaining books for children are vital given reading is known to improve vocabulary skills and encourages being able to work things out, which in itself is a useful skill. Stories can warn too as the old fairytales still do.
Many thanks for a wonderful interview, Esther, and good luck with Myths and Magic.
Author Bio
Esther has been a freelance writer for over twenty years, regularly writing articles and short stories for magazines and newspapers such as Writers’ Forum, Writing Magazine, The Guardian, Best of British, The Cat, This England, Yours and The People’s Friend.
Winner of several competitions, including those run by Writing Magazine and The Global Short Story Contest, she has also had the privilege of judging writing competitions and relished being given the role of head judge of the Writers’ Forum monthly short story competition.
Esther loves writing but equally enjoys helping others, which she achieves in her role as a tutor for The Writers Bureau. She also runs their monthly writing club, Let’s Write.
She has had two how-to books on writing published as well as two collections of short stories. Her first children’s book, The Secret Dragon, came out in July 2025. For her children’s work, she writes under the name of Esther Moonstomp.
Social Media and Buy Links
Where to Buy
Related Posts:-
Author Interview: Introducing Esther Chilton and The Secret Dragon
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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